Lot 269
269
A SOSHU TANTO

Details
A SOSHU TANTO
KAMAKURA PERIOD (CIRCA 1330), WITH RED LACQUER SIGNATURE, YUKIMITSU

Configuration (sugata): flat (hira-zukuri) with tri-bevelled back (mitsu-mune); length (nagasa): 8 sun, 3 bu (25cm.); curvature (sori): slight (wazuka).
Forging pattern (jihada): small wood grain (ko-itame) becoming more vigorous on the outside at the hamachi and near the point and with ji-nie.
Tempering pattern (hamon): irregular undulations (gonome midare) in nie and nioi with some small branched patterns (koeda-me hosomi) in nioi and vigorous nie increasing in activity and area towards the point.
Point (boshi): flame-brushed tip (hakikake) on both sides, with a long turn-back on the outside.
Tang (nakago). Shape (keitai): kimono sleeve (furisode); file marks (yasurime): new (kiri-yasuri); end (nakagojiri): rounded (kurijiri); holes (mekugi-ana): two; signature (mei): red lacquer (shumei): Yukimitsu.

Shirasaya with attestation by Sato Kanzan, and another signed Kunzan (Homma Junji) on the reverse of the shirasaya stating that the shumei had been executed by Honnami Kochu.

Accompanied by a juyo token certificate issued by the N.B.T.H.K., dated Showa 46 (1971).
Provenance
Tayasu Tokugawa family
Literature
Juyo token to zufu, vol. 20.
One Hundred Masterpieces (1992), no. 28.

Lot Essay

As a direct result of the two failed Mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281, a large number of tanto were made to satisfy the increasing need for suitable weapons for close combat. This example by Yukimitsu fits the standard length of 25cm. which is typical of the period (circa 1290-1330). Later the length increased to roughly 28cm.

Unlike Masamune, who sometimes favored the wide kocho (kitchen knife) tanto, Yukimitsu remained closer to the physical shapes of the Kunimitsu tradition: a slender blade with hira-zukuri, mitsumune and slight uchizori. His hamon, however, tended towards the exuberance of Masamune. This tanto is an outstanding example of this combination of the two styles.